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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Kilkenomics

For the last few years, Kilkenny in Ireland has hosted a festival that brings together economists and comedians to speak about issues of the day. It was born during the financial crisis in Ireland, a period where conversations about technical issues of banking and bond markets were part of everyday discussions and source of much of the type of gallows humour that often leads to the best comedy. The format is a pretty big departure from the way academics usually communicate! However, the organisers have succeeded over the years in bringing some of the best minds in Economics to the festival and the reports I have heard about it have been very favourable. The combination of comedy and current affairs is pretty established e.g. the Daily Show, and it is interesting to see such a high public demand for this type of format. There will be a couple of behavioural science sessions at this year's event, including one with myself, Dan Ariely, Deirdre McCloskey, Joris Luyendijk, and the comedian/writer Colm O'Regan, and another with Rory Sutherland, Nasim Taleb, me, Pangiotis Mitkidis and comedian/presenter Dermot Whelan. I have obviously given public talks before but this is definitely a new format for me and looking forward to it.